Chapter 27

                                    

                                          
Jisung sat on Minho's couch, hand shaky as he fiddled with his trousers, trying to calm himself down first.
Minho, his expression a bit cold, still approached the boy calmly, and laid his hand on Jisung's fiddling one.
"I'll hear you" Minho said, trying to sound soft.
"Okay" He took a deep breath, eyes staring at his lap. He took a shaky exhale, before clearing his voice "Um... You and I have been... seeing each other a lot"
"Yeah"
"And I like being around you. I think you're a nice guy, and we fuck well, and overall I just appreciate the time we spend together" He continued, eyes never leaving his lap. Never daring to cross Minho's curious gaze.
"And I do too"
"But... I wanted, for some reasons, to make sure you were ... really a good guy ? That you weren't... bad" Jisung added
"And why is that ? And why making me mad for that ?"
"Um... I thought that by making you angry, I could see what ... you actually are" He said, voice lowering more and more.
"What I actually am ?" He asked, frowning
"Maybe you could be... violent" He said, whispering the last word.
"Me ?!" He asked, in slight shock "I wouldn't, Jisung" 
"We... never know. I just wanted to see with my own eyes" 
"Why ?" He asked again, this time more softly.
"Okay... here goes nothing" He took a deep breath, and felt comforted when Minho's finger drew patterns on his hand "Remember I dated only one boy in my life ?"
"Yeah..." Minho responded, not liking where this was going
"We dated for 3 years. I used to have a huge crush on him, and we ended up getting together. He was really pretty, somehow really talented in everything he did. He came from a good family, wealthy, and was really humble. He courted me for a few months because I was shy as hell, and he covered me in flowers, gifts, and words of appreciation" He said, sighing "At first"
Minho hummed, signaling he was listening, but now wanting to interrupt.
"He was all my firsts... and after maybe 7 months into the relationship... He started being... weird" He sighed shakily "It started when we were having sex... He would be a bit too much, grabbing me a bit too harshly and even leaving marks... I started getting to highschool with a scarf because of choking marks... And I started asking him to not do it anymore... and he would continue" 
Minho stilled.
"When... Hyunjin noticed... We got into an arguement, because he didn't like what Hyunjin thought of him. That's when it took a deeper turn. Out of nowhere, he would sometimes grab and pull at my hair when I was being in reproval... he would scratch me, and raise his voice at me... And after, all that shit just went down. When he wasn't satisfied, when I talked a bit too much, for anything, he would end up slap me in the face, punch me, push me to the ground, whip me... and all that..."
He took a pause, wondering what Minho was thinking, but unable to bring himself to look at him.
"He started getting controlling... Beating me if I talked to someone that wasn't him... Beating me if I wore something he didn't like... Beating me for being 2 minutes late at his house... For anything actually..." He sighed shakily, feeling a tear rolled down his cheek "I started spending every day at his house... wanting my bruises to fade before getting back home, only to have more at the end of the week, so spending even more time at his... Until Hyunjin put some senses into me. That's when I tried to break up with him..."
"Tried...?" Minho asked, voice so low
"He ... pushed me down the stairs in pure madness, before kicking me repeatdly... I spent days at the hospital, while he was constantly here... And I just understood I just couldn't leave" He added, getting a cut off by a sob that escaped his mouth.
He felt Minho's arms wrap around him and pulling him closer, and he let the warmth calm him down.
"My parents started getting so concerned I had to swear to them and argue I was alright, while my mother would constantly called me to ask me how I was, and even tried calling the cops on him... but he was wealthy and looked nice you know... So I just had to cut contact with them... and I missed them so much..."
Nuzzling his head further on Minho's shoulder, he continued.
"So... a year and a half later, full of more beatings, more... abuse of all sorts... after cutting contact with everyone other than him... College was coming" He sighed "So, discreetly, I filled an application for Seoul's Arts College and got accepted... and I struggled hiding it to him... but I did. So... when the time came for me to join Seoul and find a flat, recontact my family and Hyunjin, I wrote a breakup letter, waited for him to leave the flat, and just run away. I let most of my things there, but I just didn't care at this point" He chuckled dryly.
He heard Minho breathe shakily, but he continued.
"I blocked him from everywhere... and I don't think he knows where I am... but sometimes I receive texts from random numbers, or random DMs... and I just know it's him."
Out of courage, he ended up looking up at the older. His eyes were filled with tears, looking so softly and worriedly at him, listening with care. That made him broke down even more.
"That broke me so much... I'm so sorry but I'm so messed up" He cried "I just can't help to associate everything to him and that part of my life, and I was just so terrified you could be the exact same thing... I- I just won't be able to live this twice" He continued, eyebrows frowned as he cried harder.
He sobbed harder, while Minho pulled him even closer.
For hours, they stayed like that, laying down on the couch with Jisung draped over Minho, sobbing on his chest while Minho softly caressed his hair.
And when Jisung was finally calmed down, Minho cleared his throat.
"Thank you for telling me, you've been brave" He said softly, voice making tingles all over Jisung's brain "That is not your fault, nor you deserved any of it. You were unlucky to meet him, that's it. No one deserves to be treated like that, and you, over every fucking human I've ever met, deserve the more to be the happier, and the more well treated, Hannie" He exhaled, shakily 
"I know it's easy to say, but I wouldn't dare to hurt you. I'll show you, and you'll understand when you'll be healed, and that might take the time that it needs, but I would take care of you as if you're the most precious thing, and I just know you'll do the exact same to me, because it's how it is to be loved and to love. I promise you, Jisung. With everything that I have, that never I would raise a hand on you. Never I would make you feel possessed and uncomfortable. Never I would make you do things you don't want to. And I fucking promise you that love isn't what you know, that it's so much more that you'll be fucking amazed when you'll feel it"
Jisung fell asleep on his chest, after ugly sobbing over his sweet words.